For those of you interested in pursuing a career in science and having a family, I highly recommend it. Both are extremely rewarding. I am lucky to have been supported in both endeavors throughout my career (I'm still early in my career - I'll start as tenure-track faculty in the fall). I had many examples of how to balance family and an academic career during my PhD. My adviser and many of my professors balanced career and family and I would consider all of them successful scientists dedicated to both teaching and research. In addition, they were humble about their achievements, excited about the achievements of their students and "higher quality scientists" who had valuable expertise and used it to explore important ecological (and conservation-focused) questions.
I am lucky to be joining a family-friendly department. I admire and respect the faculty in the department I will be joining. Along the way, I have been lucky to encounter scientists who advocated for me, gave me valuable advice (academically and personally) and have helped me advance in my career. I have an extremely supportive spouse who is an equal partner in child care. I think that as scientists, it is always useful to question how we can make academia better for research, teaching and service. If faculty are focused on an ailing parent, a child in need of medical attention, or are a caregiver for a friend/relative (some of which a apply to the single scientist), how can we make sure that they have the flexibility they need so that their concerns about personal matters do not worry them during their work? I think these are valid questions and perhaps I've been lucky in finding that flexibility. But I would be interested in pursuing this discussion without assuming that those who deal with matters outside the office are inferior scientists (that could be a whole separate discussion). And if academia is losing brainpower to the corporate world (where some employers offer on-site childcare, lactation rooms, time off for care of parents/children, etc.), should we assess whether this is of concern for future scholarly achievement? Best, Christie ________________________________ From: Steven Schwartz <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:41 PM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Families in Science - Balancing your personal and professional life "many of us higher quality scientists" I don't often post here but that is about as arrogant a statement as I have read. It is that kind of thinking that has made me distance myself from much of the ESA community. I have authored or co-authored 30 papers and would never dream of casting myself or anyone else as a "high quality scientist." I'm not sure of the size of your ego but I a dose of modesty might be in order. And as for hard work equalling reward, there is just as much chance involved as there is effort. I have seen too many hard working ecologists suffer at the hands of fate and who you worked for or know. At my first ESA meeting, almost 30 years ago, I was taken aback when the first question people had for me was "who do you work for?" referring to my PhD advisor. Not anything about what I was studying or the quality of my work. Things haven't changed nor will they. I'm only sorry I never knew the right people or went to the right school. SSS
